2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumAs Baltimore mayor, O’Malley’s police tactics sowed distrust
It was as a crime-busting mayor some 15 years ago that OMalley first gained national attention. Although he is positioning himself as a progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton, OMalley also touts a police crackdown during his time as mayor that led to a stark reduction in drug violence and homicides as one of his major achievements.
Yet some civic leaders and community activists in Baltimore portray OMalleys policing policies in troubling terms. The say the zero-tolerance approach mistreated young black men even as it helped dramatically reduce crime, fueling a deep mistrust of law enforcement that flared anew last week when Gray died after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody.
Police in Baltimore like their counterparts elsewhere have had strained relations with African Americans for generations. But community leaders say the relationship reached a nadir during OMalleys tenure, thanks to a policing strategy that resulted in tens of thousands of arrests for minor offenses such as loitering and littering...
We still have men who are suffering from it today, said Marvin Doc Cheathem, a past president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, which won a court settlement stemming from the citys policing policies. The guy is good at talking, but a lot of us know the real story of the harm he brought to our city.
Bishop Douglas Miles, a community leader, said OMalleys department set the tone for how the police department in Baltimore has reacted to poor and African American communities since then.
...
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/as-mayor-of-baltimore-omalleys-policing-strategy-sowed-mistrust/2015/04/25/af81178a-ea9d-11e4-9767-6276fc9b0ada_story.html
Response to Cheese Sandwich (Original post)
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elleng
(131,129 posts)'And so now that OMalley has embarked on an even longer-shot presidential campaign, the visuals of OMalleys record being seemingly undone before him are too good to resist.
And oddly, considering the incoming he has taken in recent days, OMalley said he welcomes the scrutiny.
It is important to talk about the biggest issues we are facing as a country, which is that it is not about our cities not working. It is not about government programs that dont work. Its about an economy that doesnt work, that tells a huge portion of our fellow citizens that they are unneeded and unnecessary, OMalley said.
Thats the pool of kerosene that is beneath the match of these police incidents.. .
Time magazine named OMalley one of the five best big-city mayors in America. Esquire named him the best young mayor in America. CitiStat won Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government Innovations in American Government Award.. .
I dont recall OMalley stating that he would do something about black crime, just crime, wrote liberal Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodericks toward the end of OMalleys time in City Hall. Coming out of the long, dreary Schmoke years, Baltimoreans appreciated OMalleys almost singular focus, along with millions in increased funding dedicated to drug treatment for the citys thousands of addicts who contribute, directly and indirectly, to 80 percent of crime.
He was trying to stop the crime on the streets. People were getting killed daily on Old York Road and in Park Heights, Robert Nowlin, a Baltimore community activist, told The Daily Beast. He did something a lot of these mayors dont do: He walked with the small people. A lot of these mayors stay in the affluent areas. He walked the streets.. .
Tying OMalley to Baltimore is an old political saw. When he tried to run for governor of Maryland, Republicans ran ads with flashing police lights, talked about how OMalley would do for Baltimore what he did for Maryland. OMalley won statewide twice though, boosted by those same Baltimore neighborhoods that he is now blamed for turning into powder kegs.
I dont think there is another person in this race who has had the executive experience over the spectrum of America that I have had as mayor of a very troubled city on its back, said OMalley. I saw that gap between who we think we are and who we really are as a nation.'
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/06/you-have-martin-o-malley-all-wrong.html
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)How many people died at the hands of Baltimore cops? How many thousands of lives ruined with arrest records? Why should this politician get a free pass. His policies escalated a wave of police terror against the black residents of Baltimore. He should answer for this. Black lives matter.
Although prosecutors declined to bring many of the cases, activists contend that those who were arrested often could not get their records expunged, making it harder for them to get jobs.
We still have men who are suffering from it today, said Marvin Doc Cheathem, a past president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, which won a court settlement stemming from the citys policing policies. The guy is good at talking, but a lot of us know the real story of the harm he brought to our city.
Bishop Douglas Miles, a community leader, said OMalleys department set the tone for how the police department in Baltimore has reacted to poor and African American communities since then.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/as-mayor-of-baltimore-omalleys-policing-strategy-sowed-mistrust/2015/04/25/af81178a-ea9d-11e4-9767-6276fc9b0ada_story.html
elleng
(131,129 posts)capturing nearly 67 percent of the Democratic primary vote in 2003 on his way to a second term. In an interview Saturday, he said he believes to this day that his administration did the right thing.
They were individual arrests, and oftentimes of the same people again and again and again, OMalley said. We achieved the biggest reduction in .?.?. crime of any city in America, and none of it was easy. All of it was hard. But there were very few people who want to return to those violent days of 1999. . .
What was positive was that there was zero-tolerance for criminals and drug dealers locking down neighborhoods and taking neighborhoods hostage, said the Rev. Franklin Madison Reid, a Baltimore pastor. Does that mean there was no down side? No. But the bottom line was that the city was in a lot stronger position as a city after he became mayor.
Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the national NAACP who worked with OMalley when Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, credited him for supporting a civilian review board as mayor and for a sharp drop in police shootings that occurred during that time. Jealous said OMalleys mass incarceration police strategy is a separate issue than police brutality, and a conversation for a different day.
It was a period where a lot of mayors were doing whatever they could to try to reduce crime, Jealous said.'
April 25, Washington Post.
JustAnotherGen
(31,906 posts)He won a second term as Mayor - because of the narcotics and subsequent crime issues being handled to the majority's satisfaction.
I'm going to go right ahead and agree with Jealous on this.
elleng
(131,129 posts)THANKS, Gen!
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)Because he was running against two African American candidates who split the black vote.
Baltimore is a highly Democratic city and the winner of the primary usually will go on to win the general, if not always.
Then in his run for re-election he didn't really have much of a primary challenge.
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/06/26/martin-omalley-tries-regain-his-standing-black-voters-win-2016-343346.html
zappaman
(20,606 posts)lol.. my thought.
FSogol
(45,529 posts)FSogol's Sock Quiz
Do you usually come in pairs?
Do you sometimes get lost in the dryer?
If you get a hole in you, does someone throw you away?
If you don't stay up, are you sometimes called a quitter?
Do you look silly if someone wears you with sandals?
In the olden days did people darn you?
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)Refute it if you want, disagree or whatever.
I actually find you to be mean because this is the third time you implied I was a sock puppet or troll.
I can't control somebody made a user name similar to mine. Mine is Cheese. Somebody made one called Ham Sandwich, that is not related.
This is the third time FSogol has made a post implying I'm a sock puppet or troll.
From one human to another I'm asking you please to stop doing that.
FSogol
(45,529 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)breakfast time!
FSogol
(45,529 posts)Why didn't you post this part of the same article?
Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the national NAACP who worked with OMalley when Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, credited him for supporting a civilian review board as mayor and for a sharp drop in police shootings that occurred during that time. Jealous said OMalleys mass incarceration police strategy is a separate issue than police brutality, and a conversation for a different day.
You are also ignoring the policies of the people who were in charge of Baltimore from 2007 to today in order to go back and blame O'Malley.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)It's OK to admit Martin O'Malley has made a few mistakes in his life.
FSogol
(45,529 posts)Disingenuous comes to mind.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)And that's what the article is about. That's the main idea.
You're just making stuff up.
You said I post the same article every day. But I never posted the same article before.
But now having done a search I see it was posted previously by user brooklynite:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026587570#post1
Instead of acknowledging the lives destroyed by Martin O'Malley's policies you are using every tactic to mislead and deflect.
FSogol
(45,529 posts)thanks to O'Malley. Here's some of those pesky facts you seem to hate:
OMalley was elected on a mandate to make Baltimore safer. Under his leadership, Baltimore achieved the steepest reduction in crime of any major city, while bringing homicides below 300 per year for the first time in a decade. OMalley also expanded services drug treatment, doubling funding and leading the way to a 30% drop in the number of overdose deaths.
Policed the Police
OMalleys administration took strong steps to police the police increasing minority hiring, improving accountability, and fully staffing a civilian review board. Under his leadership, the city reduced police shootings to their lowest level in a decade.
Revitalized Baltimores Economy
As crime dropped under OMalleys leadership, commercial investment and housing values doubled. OMalley also improved Baltimores schools, taking steps that increased graduation rates by 25% and made impressive gains in student test scores. Under OMalley, Baltimores decades long population slide finally ended.
Restored Fiscal Management
OMalley brought the citys budget under control, producing the first surplus in decades, while cutting property taxes to their lowest levels in 30 years. These efforts in very strong fiscal management earned Baltimore a bond upgrade from negative to positive.
also
While other states around the nation push stricter voter ID laws designed to limit peoples ability to exercise the right to vote, Governor OMalley made it easier to vote in Maryland by expanding early voting and same-day voter registration.
Ended the Death Penalty
Under Governor OMalleys leadership, Maryland repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Led the Nation in Public Education
Under Governor OMalley, Marylands public schools ranked #1 in America five years in a row, according to Education Week. Even in the height of the recession, while many states were cutting education spending, OMalley invested record amounts in Marylands public schools, increasing funding by 37%.
Made College More Affordable
Governor OMalley made higher education a budget priority and froze tuition for four years in a row. Under his leadership, Maryland did better than every state but one in keeping down college costs, according to the College Board.
Expanded Pre-Kindergarten
Governor OMalley expanded pre-kindergarten to 1,600 more children in Maryland and laid the groundwork for a further statewide expansion.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)The whole point of this article is to look into O'Malley's record on policing.
Andy823
(11,495 posts)Positive things about the person you support? Have you ever done that? The constant attacks on O'Malley and Clinton are not really helping people to believe you are who you claim to be.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)It wasn't really claiming to be anything.
Admiral Loinpresser
(3,859 posts)This issue of his policing policies seems awfully complex to me. He was given a pass on this at the ballot box. In view of his overall stellar progressive record as governor of Maryland, he is by far my favorite second choice as nominee. I think he would make a damn fine president.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)Bernie already is the actual opposition to Hillary. There is little reason for bringing up O'Malley at this point. He seems like an ok guy. Just let him fade.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)He deliberately instigated illegal mass arrests of thousands of black men, locked them in dirty crowded jail cells for days, strip searched and humiliated, and then released without charges, and left thousands of innocent people with arrest records.
This doesn't seem like an ok guy. This kind of police abuse led to the riots.
Clinton and Sanders both get extreme amounts of scrutiny on this site.
O'Malley should be scrutinized too.